Vegan Cauliflower Casserole flavored with garlic, tomatoes and lemon. This is such an easy yet tasty and healthy vegan casserole recipe that it will change cauliflower haters' mind.
We love making vegan cauliflower recipes every now and then, and with the cold season coming in, a vegan cauliflower casserole is the perfect dish that will be loved by both kids and adults. Plus, it is a great way to introduce veggies to kids who are either fussy or won’t go near them.
You are not into vegan or vegetarian dishes and still looking for tasty cauliflower dinner recipes? Go check out our Ground Beef And Cauliflower Casserole!
Today we’ll be sharing our best vegan cauliflower recipe. And if you’re looking for a vegetarian cauliflower casserole, you can easily add cheese of your choice as a topping for a more gooey, cheesy texture. Also here is one recipe that we shared earlier: Cheesy Cauliflower Recipe
Now before we start showing you one of our favorite vegan casserole recipes, let’s see what a casserole actually is.
What Is A Casserole?
Casseroles are amazing dishes that are made with the magic of an oven. It truly is magic when you cut out a nice steaming slice of any kind of casserole and find all ingredients properly cooked, with all textures perfectly complementing each other. Simply put a casserole is a type of a dish that is oven baked, and has been the ultimate comfort food for winter days.
What Is The Difference Between A Stew And Casserole?
Casserole and stew differ in the way we cook them and the pot that we use for cooking them. Mainly a stew is cooked on the stove, whereas the casserole is baked in the oven. In this recipe, we combine both methods. We cook it first over the stove and then complete the cooking in the oven because anything oven-baked has more flavor.
Also, casseroles might use a lot of cheese especially on the top that wouldn’t be part of a stew dish. But with this healthy casserole recipe, we want to show that it is still possible to make scrumptious cauliflower dinner recipes without cheese.
Also check out our Tomato Zucchini Casserole Vegan (No Cheese)!
About Making This Vegetarian Cauliflower Casserole
How do you know when a cauliflower is cooked? We get it, it can be a little tricky to tell when a cauliflower is properly cooked. Here’s a tip that can help you check whether the cauliflower is cooked before it gets too soft. Ideally, you’d want the cauliflower to be al dente. Use a fork to continue checking whether the cauliflower is just the right amount of firm that will be perfect for your vegan casserole.
To make the dish flavourful, you would need to add tomatoes, garlic, ground black pepper, chilli powder and home made tomato paste or red pepper paste (you can find at Middle East Markets). Moreover, we also recommend lemon and parsley for garnishing. While lemon is mostly for garnishing, you’ll be amazed to see what a difference it can make to the overall taste and texture of the dish.
How To Make Vegan Cauliflower Casserole
To make this vegan casserole, simply place the cauliflower florets in a pot, along with tomatoes, garlic. Add in some olive oil to bring out the flavour of the ingredients. Stir it a few times, and now add in your favourite spices, seasonings, and salt to taste.
Now squeeze some fresh lemon juice, and throw a wedge of lemon or the one you squeeze in the pot as well. This is to prevent the bad smell of cauliflower when cooking. Let the mixture cook till it is nice and almost tender, about 15 minutes.
Now transfer it into a baking pan and bake it in the oven, preheated to 375F/ 190C for 15-20 mins.
When done, sprinkle some parsley, and your delicious vegan casserole is ready.
Pro Tip: How do you prevent the bad smell of cauliflower that comes out when it is cooking? Our best solution is squeezing lemon and even throwing a slice of lemon in the pot when cooking. It completely removes that unpleasant flavor and smell.
If you love frying cauliflower but want to watch your health, try this recipe! It was so much like Fried Cauliflower with a tomato sauce.
MORE CAULIFLOWER RECIPES
- Cauliflower Roasted With Sumac
- Spicy Cauliflower Wings
- Curry Cauliflower Salad
- Cauliflower Tots on Kirbie's Tots
- Cauliflower Arancini on Kitchen Sanctuary
- Cauliflower Tater Tot Casserole on Food Faith Fitness
- Cauliflower Noodle Lasagna on The Iron You
VEGETARIAN CASSEROLE RECIPES
PrintVegan Cauliflower Casserole
Tangy cauliflower casserole tasting just like fried cauliflower with a tomato sauce.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cauliflower, about 2 pounds, cut into small florets
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 and ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste or red pepper paste
- ½ cup hot water
- Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Put the cauliflower florets, tomatoes and garlic in a pot.
- Drizzle olive oil over them.
- Season with the spices and salt.
- Squeeze lemon over them and put a lemon wedge into the pot (you can just put the one you squeeze).
- In a small bowl, mix tomato paste or pepper paste with hot water and pour it in the pot.
- Cook it covered over medium low heat until almost tender, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F (190C).
- Transfer the cooked dish into a casserole pan and bake it for 15-20 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Keywords: vegan cauliflower casserole, vegan casserole recipe
Chandy says
I want to make this tonight but I want to make it a bit more hearty. Can anyone else recommend a couple of other vegetables that would pair well with this?
Yusuf says
Potatoes and carrots would go well with this.
Sheila says
Peas and potato/sweet potato would go well in this recipe
Mary C says
Great recipe. Instead of fresh tomatoes I substituted organic tomato pasta sauce cooked with ground turkey. Then added the turkey mixture to the cauliflower.
India says
This was so good! Thank you for this delicious and fresh recipe! So easy to make. I had some remaining broth left and drink it by itself. So good!
★★★★★
Yusuf says
Hi India! Thank you for this nice comment! So glad to hear that you liked this easy and healthy casserole as much as we do.
Ethan says
I may have done something wrong or used the wrong type of tomato but it ended up being pretty watery for me
Jina Saikia says
Really great! Whole family liked it. Including a 13 and 10yo. But need more cauliflower for 4 people.
★★★★★
alice scott says
Delicious and easy to make.
★★★★★
Neda says
Tried it and it's soo good! Thank you!
★★★★★
Harini says
The casserole looks so delicious!
★★★★★
Nancy matlack says
Can this freeze?
★★
Yusuf says
Yes, it freezes well.
jenniffer says
The recipe is easy to follow and the lemon give the cauliflower a great taste. My boyfriend loved the spiciness and lemon taste.
★★★★★
Zerrin says
Glad to hear that Jenniffer! Spices and lemon take it to next level. I almost always combine these with cauliflower in other recipes too.
Sue koester says
This recipe was super easy but it was too spicy for us.
★★★
Bess says
Do have other reviews for this dish?
Molly says
Hi there! This looks great. I just have one question. For instruction #4, do you mean to cut the lemon in half, squeeze one half into the pot and then put in the other half? Or the zest from the unsqueezed half? I'm having trouble understanding what to do. Help please? Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Zerrin says
Hi Molly,
Cut the lemon in half, squeeze both halves and then put one of the squeezed halves into the pot. This will help remove the bad smell of cauliflower. Hope this helps. Please feel free to ask if you still have something to ask.
Nicky @ Kitchen Sanctuary says
Thanks for linking to my cauliflower Arancini Zerrin. You cauliflower casserole looks delicious!
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
This looks SO tasty!! Thank you so much for linking to my Cauliflower Tater Tot Casserole! 🙂